Hoffman Estates Update
Hoffman Estates OKs smoking ban
September 27, 2006
By Ed Fanselow, Daily Herald Staff Writer After weeks of heated discussion, village trustees in Hoffman Estates voted Monday to outlaw smoking inside bars, restaurants and virtually every other indoor space beginning in January. The new ordinance — aimed at protecting nonsmokers from the dangers of second-hand smoke — mirrors similar laws approved earlier this year in Schaumburg, Palatine and Rolling Meadows as well as an ordinance under consideration in Arlington Heights. The mayors of the five towns announced this summer that they would band together to create a regional smoking ban they said would help soften the blow felt by local businesses where smoking inside has been the norm. “This is a common-sense rule that’s long overdue,” Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said Tuesday, a day after the board voted 5-2 in favor of the ban. “I’m glad we’ve finally come into the 21st century and done something about this.” Despite that sentiment, though, the new regulations didn’t come without a fight. The owners of several local establishments, including The Assembly, Dover Straits, Neighborhood Inn, Jake’s Pizza and First Place Sports Bar & Grill, all objected to the smoke-free rules, saying smokers who frequent their businesses would stay home if they couldn’t light up. They were joined by Trustees Ray Kincaid and Rodney Rusakiewicz, who both argued the village was overstepping its authority by trying to regulate the inner workings of private businesses. The two both voted against the new rules Monday. “I’m concerned that government is sticking their noses too deep into what private individuals and private businesses do,” Kincaid said. The new law, which will go into effect Jan. 2, also bans smoking in bowling alleys, the soon-to-open Sears Centre arena and the new indoor water park being planned for the far west side of town. Only cigar and tobacco stores would be exempt from the rules. Read
Two trustees won't bend in opposition to smoking ban Hoffman Estates officials are one step closer to approving a regional ban on smoking, though two village trustees still disagree. The village boards of four other northwest suburbs are currently discussing an ordinance, agreed on by the mayors of each town, that would effectively place a uniform ban on smoking in all public places, beginning Jan. 2, 2007. Each community must review and adopt the ordinance before it can take effect, making small amendments where they see necessary. Hoffman Estates' Public Health and Safety Committee approved the ban with a vote of 5-2 at a special meeting Tuesday. Trustees Rodney Rusakiewicz and Ray Kincaid remained strongly against the ordinance. Rusakiewicz said the ban should be all or nothing, with no exemptions. "It's either a ban or it's not a ban," he said. "You can't pick and choose where it's going to be healthy to smoke." Kincaid is content with the ordinance currently in place. He argued that the village government is being inconsiderate toward smokers. "I think the government is going too far with this particular ordinance that the mayors are asking us to pass." Of the four towns that have already discussed the ordinance, Kincaid and Rusakiewicz are the only trustees to vote against it. In Schaumburg and Palatine, the ordinance passed unanimously during initial votes. The Village Boards in both towns will give their final votes on the issue later in September. Rolling Meadows has already unanimously passed the ordinance, with one amendment. Arlington Heights is the only town that has yet to discuss the issue. Several local restaurant owners spoke out against the ban, fearing it will negatively effect their business. Michael Mormando, owner of La Strada Ristorante, soon to open in Hoffman Estates, urged village officials to consider how the city of Chicago handled the issue, allowing smoking in bar areas. "I feel its inappropriate for the government to decide how I can be profitable and how I can't be profitable," he said. He said the ban in Hoffman Estates would be felt in a loss of revenue for five to 10 years. "Smoking has to do with drinking. It has to do with nightlife and it has to do with having fun," Mormando said. Robert Steinberg of Hoffman Estates said the smoking ban is long overdue, but he criticized the village for not giving residents enough of a chance to speak their minds about this issue. "They have as much to say about it as restaurant owners," he said. "In fact, because of their numbers they have a lot more to say." The Village Board will take a final vote on the regional smoking ban at their Sept. 25 meeting. Read
Smoking ban wins tentative approval September 7, 2006
Pat O'Toole HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Hoffman Estates this week moved a step closer to imposing a ban on smoking in public places as trustees backed the measure and set the stage for a Sept. 25 vote. If it passes, the new ordinance would take effect Jan. 2, the day similar ordinances will take effect in Schaumburg, Palatine, Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows. The municipalities agreed to try to coordinate smoking bans to limit the impact on bars, taverns and restaurants. The Hoffman Estates proposal would bar smoking in all public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The only exceptions would be for specialty tobacco retailers, designated smoking rooms in hotels, and for nursing-home residents who request in writing to be permitted to smoke in their rooms. Village Manager Jim Norris said the board's action Tuesday night will require him to investigate the nursing-home exception further and report back to the board at the Sept. 25 meeting. Some trustees objected to an exception for nursing homes. Trustees Raymond Kincaid and Rodney Rusakiewicz voted against the proposal. "This ordinance is going too far," Kincaid said. Read
Hoffman Estates poised to enact smoking ban August 29, 2006 BY ED FANSELOW, Daily Herald Staff Writer Despite resistance from several local tavern owners and a pair of village trustees, a proposed ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in Hoffman Estates appears ready to be signed into law. Read
Smoking ban near in Hoffman Estates
By Ed Fanselow, Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, July 09, 2006
Hoffman Estates officials appear ready to add the village to a growing list of suburbs that have banned smoking in restaurants and other public places.
Leaders in Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and other neighboring communities have been in discussions for months over a region-wide smoking ban that they say would keep one town’s restaurants from being affected by another town’s ban.
Hoffman Estates Trustee Lloyd Boester, though, says he’s grown tired with the slow pace of the talks and urged the board last week to move forward on its own.
At least four of seven board members, including Mayor Bill McLeod, have said they support snuffing out smoking in restaurants, and Boester thinks a ban could be put in place before the end of the summer.
“We’re been talking about this for a long time, but I’m just tired of all the talking,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the right time to do it.”
At least a dozen suburbs including Elk Grove Village, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Skokie, Oak Park and Deerfield have approved comprehensive public smoking bans in recent months. Chicago will phase out smoking in all bars and restaurants by July 2008.
Schaumburg village officials, meanwhile, approved a public smoking ban last month that stopped short of including taverns and restaurants, although board members have indicated they would consider extending the ban.
Jill Blodgett, executive director of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce, said Hoffman Estates would do well to wait for Schaumburg — as well as towns like Barrington, Rolling Meadows and Palatine — before acting on their own.
“To go ahead and (ban smoking) on our own right away, I think, would put an unfair burden on restaurants here,” she said.
“If you’re out with a group of people and there’s one smoker in the bunch, you’re going to be inclined to go across the street to Schaumburg or somewhere else so he can smoke.”
Hoffman Estates is home to about 80 restaurants including a dozen or so fast-food franchises that already prohibit smoking of their own accord.
|
